Core Team

“How do we empower our youth with employability skills, as well human values that make them emotionally resilient?” This is what inspires VESLARC and me. We work at bringing to our youth (age 18-26 years) tools, tips and techniques on the art of managing the self and managing the world. Our work includes the teaching of yogasana, counselling, interactive and introspective workshops for students, teachers, non-teaching staff and parents. We believe that by working together, we can create a society of strong, confident, productive and fulfilled young people.”

An Academician, a corporate trainer, writer and a former investment banker, Piya Mukherjee (MBA – Finance) has over 18 years of experience in areas such as ethics and values in business, cross-cultural sensitization, intercultural competence, finance and life skills.

Since 2010, she has been working as the Founder – Director – Vivekanand Education Society’s Leadership Academy and Re-search Centre (VESLARC) – which is part of the 50-year group of educational institutes, Vivekanand Education Society. Working with a team of managers, counsellors and training experts, she has conceptualised and created several programmes for the 22,000 students of the VES group. A popular speaker, anchor for VES programmes and lead-trainer for VESLARC, she has personally conducted over 400 workshops for students, teachers, parents and non-teaching staff.

Some of her initiatives include:

Conducting workshops, lectures series & talks for several thousand students of VES Institutes, ranging from the ages of 17 to 25.

Creating and conducting several sessions for teachers, Principals and Heads of Departments, on motivation and self-development.

Initiating peer-to-peer learning for Principals, “Gyaan kosh”.

Initiating and leading a teachers’ forum for innovative learning, “Aadharshila”

Creating and conducting productivity-linked sessions for the support staff of VES colleges.

Conducting several talks for parents of VES students, on themes such as holistic parenting, spiritual essence in parenting, handling a consumerism-oriented society, etc

Conceptualising and launching a once-in-two-months e-zine, “Antarshuddhi” for the VES staff. She is the sole writer for the same.

Conceptualising and conducting (solo as well as jointly with counsellors) mind-management sessions, “Antarmukhita”, for the VES staff.

Conceptualising and launching “Jigyaasa”, a series of proactive counselling sessions for collegians on topics like healthy self-esteem, managing one’s emotions and so on.

Conceptualising and launching “Sahveeryam”, an initiative that provides local NGOs a platform to sell their products made by underprivileged children.

Over the last 18 years, she has worked as a Corporate Trainer with several reputed Indian organizations, such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), The Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces, Larsen and Toubro Ltd, J.W. Marriott Group of Hotels, Leela Hotel, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Trident-Oberoi Group of Hotels, Accor Hotels – Novotel – Hyderabad, Aptech Ltd., Hexaware Technologies Ltd., Shipping Corporation of India, Government of Maharashtra

As visiting faculty since 1997, she has worked for several years with Institutes such as Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research (SIMSR) and VES Institute of Management Studies and Research (VESIMSR).

With the S P Jain School of Global Management, she has been a visiting faculty at Singapore and Dubai, and also worked with several groups of visiting international MBA students of University of New South Wales, Australia and IE International Institute, Madrid (Spain).

Her interests in writing have helped her contribute over 100 articles to publications such as The Economic Times, The Speaking Tree, Femina, various websites and academic journals.

Piya has recently published two cases on ethics, for an international project “Giving Voice to Values” (GVV), under Babson College, USA. The GVV covers more than 80 countries.

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce from Mumbai University and stood 7th at the University, among approximately 44,000 students. She completed her Masters degree in Finance from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai University and was the batch topper of all four semesters of the two year programme, with a centum score in Econometrics. She also successfully completed a certificate course on “Management by Human Values and ethics – Indian insights”, at the Management Centre for Human Values, IIM – Kolkata, under the guidance of one of India’s leading exponent of ethics, Dr. S.K. Chakraborty.

She is a student of Advait Vedanta, has received inputs on yogasana, reiki, the Art of Living, and T’ai chi; and loves to delve into Zen Buddhism and holistic healing practices. A lover of books and nature, Piya believes in the passion-purpose equation and describes her everyday motto as: seek-share-inspire.

Executive Manager – Ms Anushka Punjabi

Ms Anushka Punjabi is an MBA by qualification. She does the coordination work for the workshops & counseling appointments. She has an active co-ordination for Aadharshila – the teachers’ group of VES. She is the representative for VES Digital Team. She is also the “Creative specialist” of VESLARC for all special events.

Ms Tejaswini Patil is an Assistant Manager at VESLARC since the last four years.

She has completed her graduation in Marketing & Cost accountancy from the Pune University.She has a work experience of 19 years in the field of Administration. In the past, she has worked with the National School of Banking as a Branch Coordinator. She has also worked with the Maruti driving school. At VESLARC, she is in charge of general administration, co- ordination, maintaining data base, housekeeping, accounts etc. She is very efficient and good at dealing with dealing with people from the lowest to the highest ranks, organizing data, and is full of innovative ideas.

Counsellor – Sindhi Society Campus

Ms Meeta Brahmbhatt

Meeta Brahmbhatt is a psychological counsellor having a Masters degree in counselling psychology from Mumbai University. Presently she is working at VESLARC (Vivekanand Education Society Leadership Academy and Research Centre) as a counsellor.

She has worked with a range of mental health problems including depression, anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, phobias, post traumatic stress disorder and social anxiety.

She has also worked at Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Vidhyalaya School(Bombay Cambridge group of schools) for two years with higher secondary school students, assessing and evaluating individual’s problems through the use of case history, interview and observation, psychometric testing and provide individual or group counselling services to assist individuals in achieving more effective, personal, social, educational and vocational development and adjustment.

She shows deep interest in spiritual teachings, learned Bhagwad Gita and many other Upanishads. She believes in holistic living and is a marathon runner.

Counsellor – HAMC Campus

Ms Preeti Vasudevan

Preeti Vasudevan is a Mental Health Professional, having a Masters degree in Counselling Psychology from the S.N.D.T University (Matunga). She is a Counsellor and also teaches Yoga at VESLARC.She is also a Clinical Hypnotherapist, trained from the California Hypnosis Institute of India (CHII). She is a trained Yoga Teacher and a Reiki Master.

She has proctored career tests, conducted several career counselling sessions, counselling sessions for children with learning difficulties and behavioural concerns along with organizing and conducting workshops for Parents and Teachers. In addition to that, she has also worked with Adolescents and Adults, helping them deal with issues that require immediate attention. She also has experience of working as a Life Coach in a Weight Control and Management Centre to help clients boost their motivation and enhance self image through the power of positive thinking using NLP and Psychotherapeutic techniques. She also has a brief experience as a consultant and has assisted in various training workshops for corporate.

As a Hypnotherapist, she has been a medium to heal clients having various issues relating to emotional, physical and mental pain. She has expertise in Past Life Regression and Hypnodrama. She believes in the amalgamation of Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy to heal the client at the root level.

Director’s Desk

Piya Mukherjee

“Are successful people happy?” “What makes for a productive young citizen?” “How do we balance between mental-emotional satisfaction and worldly achievements?” These are some of the contemporary questions of the educated, urban youth .

Veslarc Team

How do we empower our youth with employability skills, as well human values that make them emotionally resilient?” This is what inspires VESLARC and me. We work at bringing to our youth (age 18-26 years) tools, tips and techniques on the art of managing the self and managing the world.

VESLARC Verticals

WORKSHOPS – VESLARC conducts customized workshops for students, teachers and support staff, on two kinds of themes – world-management skills and self-management values. With durations ranging from 1 hour to one day, these are on topics like confident public speaking, time management, developing stress insulation, goal planning,